Water Security

Provides background information on water rights and conservation, data on water availability, water issues related to environmental and natural disasters, economics and development, and conflicts, as well as U.S. and intergovernmental agendas and policies for ensuring reliable access to clean water. March 22 is the United Nations' World Water Day.

China's search for food and land in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, reflects the country's pressing scarcity of water. China's approach has set off alarm bells in the region and the United States should work actively to address China's water security needs, argues Elizabeth Economy before the House U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Renewing America

Three new books about water agree that the world is facing serious water crises but have very different ideas about how to address them, especially when it comes to deciding what roles the public and private sectors have to play.

The primary objective of this report is to illustrate the mostmenacing threats to the world’s great river basins, in order toencourage dialogue, provoke debate, and urge governmentsand other stakeholders to take action before it is too late.

Conscious of the increasing pressure on limited water resources, UN-Water has identified water scarcity as the theme for World Water Day 2007. This report reflects on the challenges posed by the unsustainable increase in water use and its degradation across the globe.

A policy brief based on the 2006 Joint International Conference: "Desertification and the International Policy Imperative." Desertification has emerged as an environmental crisis of global proportions. Recent evaluations clearly demonstrate there are no signs that it is abating on a global scale.

CFR Experts Guide

The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.

New Council Special Reports

Campbell evaluates the implications of the Boko Haram insurgency and recommends that the United States support Nigerian efforts to address the drivers of Boko Haram, such as poverty and corruption, and to foster stronger ties with Nigerian civil society.

Koblentz argues that the United States should work with other nuclear-armed states to manage threats to nuclear stability in the near term and establish processes for multilateral arms control efforts over the longer term.

The authors argue that it is essential to begin working now to expand and establish rules and norms governing armed drones, thereby creating standards of behavior that other countries will be more likely to follow.

2014 Annual Report

Learn more about CFR’s mission and its work over the past year in the 2014 Annual Report. The Annual Report spotlights new initiatives, high-profile events, and authoritative scholarship from CFR experts, and includes a message from CFR President Richard N. Haass.Read and download »